An Analysis of STEM Jobs in Colorado
Part four in a five-part series covering various Colorado statistics produced by the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program
Click on the links below for the first three parts in this series!
Part I: Overview | Part II: Metropolitan Statistical Areas | Part III: Location Quotients
Occupations that fall under the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) umbrella can play a vital role to an area’s economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) identifies 105 detailed occupations that are considered STEM: three occupations in the managerial group, two sales occupations, 11 occupations that teach postsecondary STEM courses, the majority of occupations within the life, physical, and social science group (excluding social science occupations), and all occupations included in the respective computer and mathematical and engineering and architecture groups. The most up-to-date list of detailed STEM occupations can be viewed in the final tab in the “Stem data, May 2023” excel workbook provided on this BLS site page.
Within that same excel workbook, the BLS has also helpfully provided aggregated STEM occupational employment and wage estimates for the U.S. and sub-national areas. Specifically, these aggregations break out estimates into two occupational groups by area – STEM and non-STEM. Nationally, STEM occupational employment makes up 6.7 percent of total occupational employment, or around 10.2 million jobs. Those 10.2 million STEM jobs earned a median annual wage of $101,650 in 2023, which was about 2.2 times higher than the median annual wage of $46,680 for non-STEM occupations.
Colorado’s share of STEM occupational employment was 9.3 percent in 2023, tied with Virginia for the fourth highest concentration compared to all other states. Washington had the highest STEM employment share at 10.5 percent, while Mississippi lagged the nation with a share of only 3.5 percent (Massachusetts and Maryland rounded out the Top 5). When expressed as an employment figure, Colorado’s STEM rate of 9.3 percent translates to 263,300 STEM jobs in the state, ranking 15th nationally. STEM jobs in Colorado earned a median annual wage of $106,160 in 2023, 2.1 times higher than the non-STEM median annual wage of $50,500. Across all states, the difference between the 2023 median wage for STEM and non-STEM jobs ranged between 1.7 and 2.6 times higher for STEM jobs.
Within Colorado, nearly 95 percent of statewide STEM jobs are concentrated within the seven Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), led by the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood MSA with approximately 159,000 STEM jobs. The Boulder and Colorado Springs MSAs have the next largest number of STEM jobs in Colorado, at 35,580 and 28,030, respectively. The 35,580 STEM jobs in Boulder represented 18.3 percent of total occupational employment in that MSA, which ranked as the third highest concentration nationally compared to all other MSAs (San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and California-Lexington Park, MD tied with a rate of 22.9 percent). The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood MSA was also one of 19 MSAs with a STEM share of 10 percent or higher. The Fort Collins (9.5%) and Colorado Springs (9.0%) MSAs both had STEM concentrations that exceeded the nation, while shares were notably lower in the Greeley (4.7%), Grand Junction (4.1%), and Pueblo (3.6%) metro areas.
By a wide margin, software developers were the most prevalent STEM occupation in Colorado in 2023, with 45,270 jobs, representing about one in every six STEM jobs in the state. However, that is not a trend unique to Colorado, as 41 other states also had software developers as the occupation with the highest level of STEM employment. The remaining ten largest STEM occupations in Colorado were mostly computer-related, with a couple engineering professions (civil and mechanical) included in the mix. In addition to software developers, five other Colorado STEM occupations had employment levels of a least 10,000: computer user support specialists (16,850); civil engineers (12,100); computer and information systems managers (12,080); computer network architects (11,160); and network and computer systems administrators (10,880). Over 40 percent of Colorado’s STEM employment total consists of those six occupations and all except computer user support specialists had a median annual wage of at least $95,000 in 2023. Data scientists, a relatively new STEM occupation for the OEWS program, notably had the 12th most STEM jobs in Colorado, with employment levels approaching 6,000. Environmental scientists and specialists had the most jobs (2,780) for a STEM occupation in the state within the life, physical, and social science group, while engineering teachers led the postsecondary cohort with 1,150 jobs (surprisingly, there were only an estimated 730 computer science postsecondary jobs).
While not available at a state level, the BLS also provides information on STEM occupational employment shares at the 4-digit industry level for the nation. Out of 238 industries, four have at least 50 percent of total employment concentrated within STEM occupations: computer systems design and related services (59.7%); architectural, engineering, and related services (59.5%); scientific research and development services (55.9%); and software publishers (55.8%). Another 12 industries have STEM occupational employment shares ranging between 25 and 50 percent (eight of which are within the manufacturing sector). STEM employment shares were less than five percent in nearly 150 U.S. industries.